My FF BG 182 [PICTURE HEAVY!]

[ACS_Motorsport]

I've, Steel bolt onto ally caliper isn't ideal.

 

[chaski]

Just a few pictures from today, fitting the second caliper. I actually only fitted the one yesterday after having clearance issues. I decided to fit the second and just get the bolts chamfered as soon as possible. Whilst I was there I gave the threads on the hub a clean out with a tap. I did the same with the otherside, but this side in particular warranted doing now that I have my own tap & die set, as previously the wheel nut had snapped off due to corrosion. Whilst the spacer bolts are new, I don't really want to risk it. It also cleaned the threads out a bit as I used medium strength loctite (2400) on the spacer bolts when fitting.

Might need to get some spare hubs and have them powder coated eventually. I am really pleased with the aesthetic. I've got some replacements coming for the centre of the faded BBS caps. This time though, they'll be black. They were originally red but most of the colour has faded.

I also took the chance to compare the standard 225 bolts with the bolts from the PMS kit. Other than the length of the thread/shank, they're identical. Whilst that might not be of use to me as the PMS kit came with bolts, it could be useful if someone's looking to do a homebrew setup.

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

Does the washer looks thinner too mate? Could swap that over? Take less meat of the head then.

Definitely get them hubs powder coated mate! That rust is baaaaaad!! Haha!

I'll just leave this here [emoji23]

 

[chaski]

Definitely something I want to do! Though probably that chemical treatment I think either yours or tomotek had rather than powder coating. Can't get the washer off those Meg bolts, the threads keep them on [emoji23] the difference in thickness is very small though so not really worth the hassle unless the bolts can't be chamfered enough, which I think they can!

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

It was me who did the chemical blackening mate. Only on the hub the though not the upright. As that's obviously because you don't want any compression in the powder coat where the disc/ spacer contacts because it can cause the wheel to come loose. Also there the splines for the driveshaft too.

It also removes and prevents corrosion in the threads and actually provides some lubrication.

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

 

[chaski]

That's the one! Definitely on my list of to dos. Perhaps when I take the engine out for a freshen up eventually, I'll remove the entire subframe etc and set about getting it all cleaned up and coated.

Hubs being so rusted really ruins everything else being new and feels like a half finished clean up job! Haha.

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

That's why I haven't even fitted all mine yet lol. I have this crazy OCD curse that prevents me fitting anything new to something old and rusty haha!

 

[Gus]

I had some hubs that looked similar to yours Tom and the easiest way to clean them up is to buy a kilo of Bilthamber Deox C - http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/deox-c and then have the bearings pressed out and drop the hubs into a bucket of water +DeoxC for a day or two. tie a bit of string to each part and pull them out every half a day and give them a quick brush with a wire brush or similar. I do want to do what Any Smiggy has done though with coatings.

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

Mega stuff that bilt hamber stuff! Pretty much own half the shop haha!

 

[chaski]

Some Deox-c is already on the list! For now, I have enough to be getting on with and need to refill the coffers a little bit as it's been an expensive month!

Brembo 4 Pots - Fitted!

Finally, they're on the car and it's back on the floor after a week on axle stands and spending my break between shifts getting the caliper to bracket bolts trimmed. Thanks to JPF Engineering, T T Engineering (both Stroud area) and my Dad's mate Steve. All three of them helped me out with chamfering and trimming height down on three different days at last minute notice and none of them charged me a penny! The guy at T T Engineering (who's name I unfortunately didn't get) even had a 172 cup he'd bought to convert for road rallying. I had a chat with him about all the issues he's been having with local MOT centres failing his cup on the rear breaks, despite showing them the VOSA paper work!

In the end a total of 3.3mm precisely was shaved off the top of each of my bolts in height and a chamfer added to the edge. On reflection, the chamfer isn't entirely necessary, remvoing the height would have done the job and left more strength in the bolt heads. However, the bolts from PMS are made of high quality 12.9 grade tensile steel. They're strong as anything and whilst I was careful to keep the allan bit straight whilst torquing them up, they went in easily with no rounding issues whatsoever.

I'm over the moon with the aesthetic. I love it! The pedal feels a bit soft, but I'm aware that's the same for everyone. I'll drive it for a while and see if I get used to it. If not, it will be time for a bigger MC if possible. I'll bed the new Mintex 1144's in and see what happens, I guess!

Nice to see the black paint instead of rust! I should have painted closer in toward the swept area of the disc, roookie error but I don't think it'll look too bad. If the corrosion isn't too much I might take them off again for a paint if I get time, but it's unlikely.

Door 'Bullets'

I've always thought these looked really tatty and heavily dated the car. I could never really figure out what I'd like them replaced with though, or justify the cost. SprayShack recently ran a group buy again though and I decided it was time! I'm really glad I did.. this is one of those mods that makes far more difference than you'd ever imagine! I uhmmed and ahhhed for a long time about what to get them painted in. In the end, I opted for technical grey and black gold new style lettering. I don't really see a need to shout about it being a 2 litre 16v.

Really, really happy with them. The quality of the work is very good indeed! Can thoroughly recommend SprayShack if you want anything painted. I'll definitely be getting more bits done by them in the future.

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

Pfffht copy cat with the bullets [emoji87][emoji87]

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

It's a must mod really mate don't blame you! Looks good with the black!

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

 

[chaski]

Are yours technical grey? [emoji23]

Honestly I find it really strange how many similar mods I've made to both yourself and Gus yet there's been no chat about any of it before buying!

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

Mine are the original cup anthracite coded to match the wheels and Arctic blue font.

Haha great minds mate!! Just the choice mods really mate!

 

[Gus]

The Brembos look really really good with the BBS wheels. really makes the front end look purposeful

 

[ACS_Motorsport]

Like the Turinis mate!! [emoji115][emoji115][emoji115]

 

[chaski]

Driven hard and put away wet!

Progress has been painfully slow. I've still not even fitted my Gaz coilovers that have been sat in the house for at least five months now. I'm adamant they won't see the car until I've finished making up some covers for them though.

Work/personal life commitments are leaving next to no time or energy to make head way lately. Hopefully that will change a little and better weather will allow more opportunities!

Current part baked projects include:

- 197 wheel with cruise wiring re-run.
- Gaz coilovers and custom made neoprene covers
- pretensioner covers custom made
- thinking about removal of rear seats etc.

One major downside is the gearbox has developed a slight crunch going into second occasionally. I drive it with mechanical sympathy so I'm putting it down to taking a battering from previous owners.

The clutch also still needs doing. I do relatively low miles though (less than 2k in the last 7 months) so there's time yet. I plan to fit a refurbished box and new clutch at the same time to save on fluids and effort.

 

[KebabWarrior81]

Bruneau Motorsport Gear Stick

B.M.S on Facebook
B.M.S forum Group Buy thread

Ashley of B.M.S (@Ash-b-84) has been producing these modified shifters for quite some time now as I'd read about 'a guy' who made them and people seemed to rave about them. They've really gone up in demand since he started producing custom aluminum shafts for them and fitting quaife nylon knobs but I was lucky enough to pick up an early spot a few months or so ago. I understand he's now only selling them as the 'full' package with aly shaft and nylon gear knob which is great because it's so worth it to have the extra level of quality in the mod.

There was a little controversy at first on Facebook with Pure Motorsport being concerned that B.M.S had just copied their design. Given then length of time modified scenic shifters have been around on this forum from Ash, and the fact he is an engineer in his own right, that is obviously not the case. It all ended well though and B.M.S don't have any plans to provide the linkage between the stick and the gearbox anyway which makes the B.M.S shifter a great option for guys like me that just need a bigger shaft and a better feeling knob in their hand! I opted for a black knob as I felt it has a more OE aesthetic.

Seriously though, the shifter is perfectly placed for fast road and track use as it comes in at just under half the price of the PMS kit at £130 and yet it still boasts a lot of tangible benefits over the OE 'spoon in the porridge' stick. I never really understood that phrase properly, until I'd finished fitting my BMS stick, actually. With an angled back and taller stick, the gear knob ends up much closer to the wheel which if you're tall is especially beneficial. No more leaning forward a bit to go into second! Under the housing, the bottom 'arm' is a touch longer on the scenic units than the OE clio ones, which I believe has something to do with the throw.

BMS themselves say:



....and it's all so true! It's also worth mentioning that on the whole it's actually a surprisingly easy mod to fit! Here's a side to side of my OE stick (left) and the BMS shifter (right).

View attachment 1237538
View attachment 1237539

Installation was fairly easy, but regrettably I didn't take many pictures due to having limited time and wanting to get it done.

Removing the gear stick gaitor is the first job and is an absolute doddle as it's only secured by two plastic clips at the handbrake end. A flat head screw driver was enough to lever it out gently. I then pulled the gaitor up over the knob so that it turned inside out and in doing so gave myself access to the cable tie which holds the top of the gaitor to the stick. I needed to snip it so the gaitor could be refitted on the BMS shifter. The center plastic surrounding the gear knob area also had to come out of the car. It's only held in by a clip/stud on both of the ends inside the footwells - these just pull out - and then one larger clip at the end just in front of the handbrake which can be a bit more fiddly. With it out of the way I removed the brown coloured foam on top of the gear stick housing.

Next job is to get yourself under the car as you need to drop the catalytic converter out of the way and remove the center heat shield. Jacking the car from the front gives much more room for this IME. With the car in the air and everything moved out of the way, I had access to the four bolts that hold the gear stick housing in place. They were a little corroded, but not too bad considering they've probably never moved after leaving the factory. A bit of tighten/loosen and they came off. If you're sometimes impatient this can feel like a lifetime! However, once they are off, the whole housing just drops out of the car and an amusing hole in your car appears!

View attachment 1237540

it is as simple as you'd imagine to fit the new BMS shifter housing into place. Push it into position and tighten down the nuts! The center console can all be replaced, not forgetting the brown foam! To refit the gearstick housing I just looped a new cable tie through the top of the gaitor whilst it was inside out, put the knob through the gaitor and then tightened it securely before clicking the base back into the plastic trim.

View attachment 1237541

There is one slight difficulty to the whole process, which is if your catalytic converter sits quite high - mine does at least - then there is little room for the bottom of the stick to move around without making contact with the center heatshield. Many people simply removed it altogether though and so far no one has reported back with any negative consequences, despite numerous track days etc. I opted to try and retain the center heatshield though and spent a very long time bending it into the 'perfect' shape. The only problem is that the heatshield now makes contact with the catalytic converter whilst driving over bumps which is incredibly annoying!! It's on the hit list to be removed entirely.

I have bought something to replace it though, which is a flexible, material heatshield that should make no noise. I may not fit it, I'm still unsure.

The first drive after installing it though was just awesome and I was totally amazed at how gear stick and gear change feel can totally transform a car. I was so impressed that so far I have to say this is the best modification I think I've made yet. Certainly, pound for pound it is by far the best value mod I've made in terms of increased performance, functionality and feel. £130 is a great and very fair price IMO and I'd thoroughly recommend anyone in search of better gearstick feel gets themselves on the waiting list ASAP.

Great thread mate and particularly this post you’ve answered the questions I had in one hit. I’ve got a bms shifter on the way and will be very easy following what you’ve wrote thank you 🍻